LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Darren Johnson has been named the 2012-13 Southeastern Conference Team Physician of the Year by SEC member institution athletic training staffs, it was announced by the Southern Orthopaedic Association. Dr. Johnson will be honored at the 2013 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament when the SOA has its annual meeting and at the 2013 SEC Sports Medicine Committee Meeting in Opelika, Ala.

The award was first given out in 2003 with Dr. Johnson becoming the first UK team physician to win the honor. This award is chosen by the athletic training staffs at SEC member institutions and is given annually to recognize a team physician who has contributed greatly to his or her school's teams and to the SEC sports community. Voting criteria includes reliability to the physician's athletic department and noted involvement in the field of sports medicine. A $1,000 award will be given to the University of Kentucky Athletic Training Education Program in Dr. Johnson’s name for student athletic trainer scholarship or education.

“I am humbled and honored to receive this award from my peer institutions throughout the Southeastern Conference,” said Dr. Johnson, who started at Kentucky in 1993. “It is a great honor and reflection on our entire sports medicine team at UK, which includes our extremely dedicated and devoted athletic training staff and team physicians. Our entire team provides the highest level care possible to our student-athletes.”

Currently, Dr. Johnson serves as the chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine at the University of Kentucky and the head orthopaedic surgeon for UK Athletics. Dr. Johnson earned his degree from the UCLA School of Medicine before doing his residency at the University of Southern California and his fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and American Board of Orthopaedic Sports Medicine.

“This award is a fitting tribute to the care Dr. Johnson has rendered to our student-athletes over his years of service to the University of Kentucky,” said Jim Madaleno, who is the director of sports medicine and head athletic trainer at Kentucky. “The entire UK Sports Medicine staff offers its congratulations on him being named SEC Team Physician of the Year.”